明治末期茨城県下町村の食物消費量

町村是の分析を通して

抄録

To consider regional characteristics and differences in standard of living in the process of Japanese modernization, household consumption needs to be carefully examined. As food occupied the major portions of household consumption in the Meiji Era, it is important to clarify the nature of food consumption in each micro region. In this paper, the author examines food consumption and its regional differences in Ibaraki Prefecture in the late Meiji Era, using data recorded in Chosonze (a statistical record of each town and village).
The results obtained can be summarized as follows:
1. The per capita consumption of grain and potatoes was 4.00 go (about 0.18 liter) on an average, among which rice amounted to 2.66 go (66.5%). Thus rice was the most important food in the late Meiji Era.
2. The consumption of rice differed regionally within the prefecture. More rice was consumed in Inashiki, Namekata and Niihari counties on Lake Kasumigaura, while in Sashima and Yuki counties in western Ibaraki Prefecture, rice consumption was substantially limited. On the other hand, the consumption of wheat and barley represented an opposite pattern, being greater in the western part of the prefecture and less in Namekata and Niihari counties.
3. The per capita calorie consumption of major foods such as grain, potatoes, beans, vegetables, miso, soy sauce and sake was about 2, 300 kilocalories. Taking the consumption of other foods like fish into consideration, the total per capita consumption in calories was about 2, 400 kilocalories. This is as much as the number of calories consumed by a full-time farmer after World War II.
4. In general, the rice consumed in each village was locally grown by the villages by themselves. Imported rice was not common except in towns and flshing villages.